Top Tech Gear Launches of 2013

Must-Haves From This Year

Best App to Tame Your Inbox

Top Convertible Tablet

Awesome Website Design Tool

Most Secure Smartphone

Excellent App for Fat-Finger Syndrome

Favorite iDevice

To say that it was an eventful year in tech is an understatement. From tech giants like Apple launching new products to innovative startups creating wildly popular software, here's a shortlist of 2013 must-haves handpicked by Inc. gadget guru John Brandon.

Want to get to inbox zero--and stay there? Check out Mailstrom. Whereas other inbox apps focus on broad categorization of your messages, this one is all about taking action and clearing the clutter. So you can view emails by categories--say, older than three months or social network alerts--and start chopping away. The app is free and works with most email services.

This year, we saw plenty of tablet/laptop combos that combined the minimalism of a tablet but the power and feel of a laptop. Our top pick? The Acer Aspire R7 Notebook, which costs $999. The R7 lies flat like a tablet, folds into a Windows 8 touch laptop--and its battery lasts up to 5 hours. Bonus: the four 2-watt Dolby speakers were surprisingly loud.

A recent survey found that 52 percent of small businesses do not have a website. There's no excuse for this, especially when there are so many easy-to-use website design tools out there. We like Webflow for its intuitive interface, stylish templates, and full suite of tools. The main draw, though, is that it is a full Web editor and it keeps track of all your site's versions as you evolve the design.

The more you use your phone for work, the more you need to protect that device. Fortunately, more hardware companies are rolling out super-secure models. We reviewed three in 2013. While BlackBerry gets a few extra points for features, check out the Samsung Galaxy S4. This Android phone lets your IT team wipe it remotely and offers advanced unlock options, including face detection.

You could get so much more done on your smartphone… if only typing wasn't such a pain. The predictive keyboard app Fleksy aims to make it a whole lot easier. The app promises to make sense of what you type, no matter how badly you've jumbled the letters. It technically launched in 2012 for iOS but came to Android in 2013.

No gadget round-up is complete without mentioning an Apple device. This year saw the souped-up iPhone 5s come to market--in a golden hue, of all things. With a 64-bit chipset, this phone is super snappy. Plus, it comes with a fingerprint scanner to unlock the phone.